The Exact Diet Changes This Chef Made to Drop 40 Pounds

Tory Miller used to feast on fried chicken—now he does CrossFit

Tory Miller used to live and breathe the old adage “never trust a skinny chef.” As a restaurant owner, his day-to-day consists of tasting and perfecting delicious meals. While he always crafted farm to table recipes at work, the weekends were all about simplicity, so pizza, burgers, and a quick pass through the Culver’s drive-thru became the norm.

The 42-year-old Wisconsin resident was working 15 to 17 hours a day every day except for Sundays. So when the weekend came to an end, he wanted to do nothing but eat treats all day. Even still, when he was surrounded by tempting food the rest of the week, it was a huge challenge to stop himself from eating everything.

It was almost celebrated how much he could chow down, so losing weight wasn’t always a priority, even though the scale read 220 pounds.

All of that changed when the father of two opened his new restaurant, Graze, in August of 2015. The uniforms? Fitted snap-button jackets. In February of 2016, when Miller sat down for a meeting with his jacket on, three of the buttons popped open—a confidence killer, to say the least. He was turning 40 in July of that year, and beyond the bulging belly, Miller realized he needed to start thinking about his family and the future of his health.

So he started with the one thing that constantly surrounded him: food. The sweet stuff was the first vice to tackle. He used to down an entire handful of candy without thinking twice about it. Now, Miller pays a lot more attention to the amount of sugar and carbs he’s taking in.

Before, he would hardly eat breakfast, or just slam a cup of coffee. Now, he starts his day with a cup of granola and yogurt. Then, for lunch, he’ll stick to a hard-boiled egg in a bowl of greens with kimchi and asparagus. For dinner, it’s usually chicken with one tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil with rice and vegetables.

Breakfast Bowls:

If he sits down to a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, he doesn’t eat more pasta than protein. Vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, kale, bok choy, mustard greens are always included.

After tackling his diet, Miller knew he needed to get moving, too. He remembered watching the CrossFit games while eating fried chicken and thinking “These guys are insane! This chicken is delicious!”

A close friend of his happened to be a trainer and CrossFit athlete. “He worked in kitchens, too, and he would always be like, ‘You’ve got to come work out with me,’” says Miller.

So they started training together. His friend’s stance toward fitness is that working out is not just about killing yourself on one machine; it’s working it all in. At first, Miller did three 1-hour workouts a week. He would row for a thousand meters, and then either bench press or squat very low weights. (Looking for a routine that will help you burn fat fast? Check out Anarchy Abs from Men's Health, a series of workouts specifically designed to sculpt your core.)

Now, he’s down to 180 pounds, and all of his weights have increased exponentially. He hits the gym every single day and even recently squatted 300 pounds for the first time in his life.

“I feel like I have so much more energy to do my job, be there for my wife, and be there for my kids,” he says.

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